1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to an electrical connector, and more particularly, to an electrical connector used for connecting with a flexible print circuit board or a flexible ribbon cable.
2. Description of Related Art
A variety of flexible printed circuits are widely used in electronic devices, such as notebooks, mobile phones and fax machines. Various electrical connectors are adapted for connecting corresponding flexible printed circuits. There is a conventional flexible printed circuit connector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,883. The flexible printed circuit connector includes an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts and an actuator. The actuator defines an open position and a close position relative to the insulative housing, and brings the flexible printed circuits into contact with the contacts during a rotation from the open position to the close position. The insulative housing is formed with a pair of horizontal passages and a pair of horizontal slots on an inner face of sidewalls thereof. The actuator has a pair of turning shafts respectively set pivotally in said passages and a pair of projections respectively accepted in said slots for keeping the actuator in the close position. However, the configuration of the insulative housing is complex, and the projections of the actuator are easily destroyed during the actuator rotation to the close position, that brings the actuator become loose and the electrical connection between the flexible printed circuit connector and the flexible printed circuit become unreliable.
Another type of flexible printed circuit connector further includes a pair of metal ears inserted into opposite sidewalls of the insulative housing. Each metal ear has a first sidewall with a pivot portion at an end thereof, a second sidewall paralleled to the first sidewall for fixing the metal ear to the insulative housing and a bottom plate joining the first and second sidewalls. The actuator is assembled on the insulative housing by pivotally engaging with the pivot portion of the metal ears set on the insulative housing. But this arrangement of the actuator can not ensure the actuator in the close position reliable and that will influence the electrical connection between the flexible printed circuit connector and the flexible printed circuit.
Hence, an electrical connector is highly desired to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art.